Gulf to get first
solar-power plant

AbuDhabi is to build a $350m solar power plant,
the first of its kind in the Gulf, according to
an investor in the project.

Abu Dhabi holds more than 90 per cent of the oil
reserves of the United Arab Emirates, the seven-member
federation.

The 500-megawatt plant, expected to be complete
by 2009, is part of Abu Dhabi's drive to reduce
dependence on hydrocarbon power, Sultan al-Jaber,
chief executive of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company,
said said on Sunday.

The 500-megawatt plant, expected to be complete
by 2009, is part of Abu Dhabi's drive to reduce dependence
on hydrocarbon power, Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive
of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, said said on Sunday.

Future
Energy, a subsidiary of government-owned Mubadala
Development Company, and the Abu Dhabi Water &
Electricity Authority will fund the plant with other
investors.

Economic
development

The emirate eventually hopes to provide solar-powered
electricity to 10,000 homes and is setting up a special
economic zone for the alternative-energy industry,
Jaber said.

He
said: "We ... do not want to be 100 per cent dependent
on (hydrocarbon power).

"We
have an economic development programme dedicated to
establishing an entirely new economic sector focused
on alternative energy and sustainable technologies,"
he said.

Jaber said the plant will be the first of its kind in the
Gulf, home to oil and gas producers who supply a fifth
of the world's energy needs.